1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an auto-loading disk player for a compact disk or the like recording disk.
2. Description of Background Information
Among compact disk play back apparatuses in the conventional technology, there are disk playback apparatuses designed specially for mounting in a vehicle. In the case of those playback apparatuses, an area for providing there an operation panel or a display panel of the apparatus is limited due to a confined space in the vehicle. For this reason, there has been proposed a disk playback apparatus, in which a console panel and an indicating section with many operating buttons arranged therein are provided in internal and external sections of a door rotatably provided in the main body of the disk playback apparatus, and a disk inserting port is provided inside the door. FIG. 1A to FIG. 1C are views each schematically showing a vehicle-mounted auto-loading disk player based on this system. Detailed description will be made for a method of loading a disk as well as of ejecting the disk with reference to FIG. 1A to FIG. 1C.
FIG. 1A shows a state in which the door 2 of the disk playback apparatus 1 is opened. An internal section of this door is a console panel 3, and a disk eject key 4, a play key 5, and many other operating buttons, not shown herein, are arranged therein. Also, FIG. 1B shows a state in which a compact disk is accommodated in the internal section of the disk playback apparatus, and a disk 7 is loaded on a turn table 6. To detect a state in which the disk 7 has been loaded on the turn table 6, a load detecting device 8 for detecting a position such as a switch or a photo interrupter is provided near the periphery of the disk 7 loaded on the turn table 6. The method of loading a disk and the method of detecting the disk as described above are not described in detail herein because those methods are already disclosed in patent applications filed by the present applicant, i.e, Japanese Patent Application No. 63-52178 as well as in Japanese Patent Application No. 63-52179.
FIG. 1C shows a state in which the disk 7 is being ejected from the device, and the disk 7 is loaded to the device and ejected therefrom by rotating rollers 9 between which the disk 7 are held. The system is designed so that the disk 7 will be stopped in a position (ejected position) where it is ejected by substantially a half of the disk so that the disk will not drop therefrom. A position where the disk 7 stops is detected by an ejection detecting device 10, and the detection is executed with a similar switch or a photointerrupter provided for the load detecting device 8. Namely when the disk 7 is to be ejected, the door 2 is manually opened, and the eject key 4 on the console panel 3 is pressed, then the disk 7 is ejected from the disk inserting port 11 by the rotation of the rollers 9, the ejection detecting device 10 is stopped in the position specified by the ejection detecting device 10, and the ejecting operation is finished. After this step, the disk 7 is manually taken out. The control system as described above has also already been applied by the present applicant, which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 61-103506.
When the disk is to be loaded for the first time, the door 2 is manually opened, the disk 7 is inserted into the inserting port 11, and then the insertion is detected by the load detecting device, and the rollers 9 are automatically rotated in the loading direction (in which a disk is loaded), and the disk is transferred onto the turn table 6. When the load detecting device 8 detects the disk, the rotation of the rollers is stopped, the disk is loaded on the turn table 6 by a disk dropping function onto a turn table, which is not disclosed, and then the disk rotates thus performance being started.
As described above, in a case of the disk playback apparatus based on a vehicle-mounted auto-loading system, operations for opening/closing the door and inserting a disk are manually executed, but after these steps, all other operations are automatically controlled by a microcomputer, not shown herein, provided in the disk playback apparatus. Also, when the disk in an ejected position is to be played, the rollers are driven by lightly pressing said disk or by operating the player key, and a series of the controls as described above are executed.
FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of a series of operations in the ejecting process described above. The reference character S1 denotes a step at a point of time when the door 2 is completely opened and the eject key 4 is pressed. When the eject key 4 is pressed, an operation for ejecting the disk is performed in Step S2, and the disk 7 is ejected from the turn table 6. Step S3 is a process for setting a period of time required for an ejecting process as well as for preventing the rollers from being hooked during the ejecting process and continuing its rotation, and if the process is operated within the preset period of time, system control shifts to Step S4, while if a time required for the process exceeds the preset period of time, system control shifts to Step S5, and even when the ejection has not completed, rotation of the rollers 9 are forcefully stopped to finish the operation. If the ejecting process is executed within the preset period of time, detection is made as to whether the disk has been ejected or not in Step S3. This step of detection for ejection is shifted to Step S2 when the disk is not present in the eject position, and a series of the operations are continued therein. If it is detected that the disk has been ejected, determination is made that the disk 7 has normally been ejected, and the rollers 9 are stopped in Step S5 to finish a series of the operations.
However, there are many cases where the door may carelessly be closed, immediately after the user has processed an eject key to take out a disk, by user's hand or body contacting with the door because of a narrow space of the vehicle or by a user inadvertently pressing the eject key when the door is closed. In those cases, since the eject key has been operated, the microcomputer performs the operation to rotate the rollers and tries to continue a series of operations according to the procedures to be executed when the eject key is operated, such as ejection of the disk. However, as shown in FIG. 1C, there are some cases where the door comes in contact with the periphery of the disk which is moving, because the door is rotated and moved in the direction to which the door is closed. In other case, the user may carelessly touch the recording surface of the disk, which may cause damage to the periphery or recording surface thereof. These problems may also occur in the case where the disk is left in the ejected state. Furthermore, if the disk which is being transferred is forcibly stopped by the door, which may cause damage to the disk surface by the rollers which are still rotated for driving, and additionally an adverse effect is given to a roller driving mechanism itself.